The Republican presidential candidate said that he couldn't be sure of the reasoning behind Boehner's decision. But he noted that Pope Francis' address to a joint session of Congress, made possible by Boehner's invitation, was a "real" and "emotional" moment for the House speaker.

"I almost feel that yesterday he saw that with Pope Francis standing in the well of the Congress that just may be a good way to end his Congressional career," Christie said. "I don’t know that to be true, but I have to tell you he looked very emotional yesterday and looked to me like somebody who felt like he had accomplished all he wanted to accomplish. And if that’s the case, then good for him. Let him go off and live the rest of the life now knowing that he came to Congress and he accomplished the things that in his heart he believed he wanted to accomplish."